Past, Present, and Future
by fei
Summary: formally Untitled DBZ Story, on hold
1. prologue

**Past, Present, and Future**   
Prologue   
-**long ago**-

    

She was running as fast as her legs would carry her. The creature, as her township had labeled it, was chasing her. Escaping from the creature's tight grasp was difficult and she had been close. But it still wasn't enough. Her lungs were on the veritable verge of bursting. She was so close to her cabin. Almost safe. Considering her father was still alive to rid the world of the awful creature.

    

Even in the miserable state she was in, the girl looked angelic. The bruises and abrasions on her face did nothing to hide the deep blue eyes that were filled with fear or the delicate cheeks that had stinging tears sliding down them. Long aquamarine hair flowed behind her catching on various tree branches as she passed. A dress made of peculiar white gauze covered her body. The dress was in relatively good condition in light of her spending a week in the company of the creature. Her bare feet were covered with small scrapes and she was certain that at least one of her toenails had been ripped out due to her clumsy running. The creature, though it had seen fit to provide her with a dress, had not seen to footwear.

    

Solid footfalls followed close behind her. Panic filled her and hastened her pace. The increased speed only made her gait clumsier. "Papa, I'm coming. Please be there." The outline of the cabin loomed ahead of her in the darkness. Relief almost made her stop. But then she remembered the creature that was still chasing her. She called out to her father, hoping that he would bring the book and the medallion with him if he even came out at all. "Papa!"

    

The door opened and a man stood in the doorway. "Laura? Is that you, my child?"

    

Laura ran up to the man and hugged him fiercely. "Yes, Papa. It is I. I escaped. But the creature has followed me. Where is the book? Where is the medallion? We need to destroy the creature."

    

The father drew the out of breath girl inside and closed the door behind him. Regret and sadness filled him. If only he done things differently... He looked down at his daughter, clinging to his arm. "The book and medallion are over there. Fetch them, my dear." She scrambled around the sparse furnishings and returned clutching a medallion in her fist and a book against her chest. "Thank you." He opened the book to a certain page and waited.

    

The door of the cabin was kicked open and on the other side stood another girl. She looked identical to the girl hiding behind her father, right down to the style of clothing. But there were differences. This girl's hair, the same length as the other's, was a startling lavender. The dress, made of the same cloth, was a deep black. "Papa, you found my little pet." She flashed the father a winning smile. "May I have her back?"

    

The father was in a state of shock. "N-nora? But you're...you're dead. I saw you die."

    

Nora laughed, a baneful laugh. "Am I not right here in front of you, Papa?" She extended her hand to the trembling girl. "Come to sister, little Laura."

    

Laura hid her face in her father's back. "You cannot have my daughter, creature." The father said it with such venom that Nora cringed. He held out the medallion and she backed away from them.

    

Tears sprung to Nora's eyes. "But Papa..."

    

The father's malice wavered and the medallion slipped out of his fingers. "Don't cry, my Nora." He opened his arms to Nora, an invitation to embrace.

    

"Papa, no!" Laura yanked on her father's shirt. "Papa, don't let her fool you!"

    

Nora welcomed her father into her own arms. She held his head to her breast and he allowed it, not realizing in his haze that the way he was being held was wrong. Her fingers entangled themselves in his hair, seductively running through its length. She looked up at Laura and smirked at her.

    

It was wrong. Laura knew that this creature was not her sister. She hung her head dejectedly "You may take me, Nora. Just leave my Papa alone."

    

Nora dropped the drunken man in her arms on the floor. "I knew you'd comply sooner or later, my sister. Remember, we share the same mind." She tapped her temple. "I know how you think." She stepped over the man on the floor to get near Laura. "I know how you feel." She gently caressed her sister's cheek, all the while getting closer to Laura. "I know what you want." She stopped in front of her sister. "I know...everything." She pressed her lips against her sister's.

    

Laura stood still, letting the creature do as it pleased. Waiting for the right moment. She was going to do what her father could not.

    

Nora's hands brushed against her sister's breasts through the dress. She whispered against Laura's lips. "I am no longer your sister, little Laura. I am evil. And you are my little pleasure toy."

    

Thousands of plans ran through Laura's head. Ways of defeating this creature her sister had become. "No. I am not your pleasure toy." The soft caresses stopped, taking with them the small tingles of pleasure. "I am good. And good always defeats evil." Before Nora could react, Laura was behind her with the medallion pressed against the small of her back and the book open in her hand.

    

Nora cried out. "What are you doing, sister? That hurts."

    

"Good." Laura began to read aloud from the book. "To the ground you will return, creature of evil. From the people's minds you will go. Be gone. May the ropes of goodness bind you. May the hearts of purity destroy you. Be gone!"

    

Nora collapsed in front of Laura. Her hands grasped at the empty air and her blank eyes pleaded with Laura. Laura backed away as her eyes slid close and she exploded in a cloud of dust.

    

Her father sat up and looked around. "Where is Nora?"

    

Laura's eyes filled with tears. "She's gone...for now." She helped her father up and hugged him. "Goodbye, Papa." She, too, disappeared in a burst of light, still clutching the medallion in her hand.


	2. chapter one

**Past, Present, and Future**   
Chapter 1   
-**present**-

    

Housecleaning was not Bulma's idea of a good time. In fact she could think of thousands of other things that would be marginally better than cleaning house. But now was the only time she could actually clean the mess her house had become. Trunks had finally fallen asleep for his nap. After promises of food and anything else that came to mind he started snoring, loudly.

    

He was much like his father in that respect. He sucked all of your attention up and then just rolled over, snoring. Her table wiping slowed considerably as she thought of the child's father. A horrible person to spend days with but a great person to spend the nights with. And damn, the man had a body on him. Her head suddenly filled with visions of a naked Vegeta. Then she heard a door slamming and ducked her head to hide her flushed cheeks as she resumed wiping.

    

Vegeta stomped his way into the kitchen and was greeted with a fine view of Bulma's posterior. If that wasn't a sight to stop a grown man in his tracks then he didn't know what was. He had to admit, the woman had a nice ass...among other things. Even though he could spend an entire day staring at it he had other things on his mind. "Woman." Bulma started, looking over her shoulder at him with an almost guilty expression on her face. "Yes?"

    

Vegeta sat at the table, giving her an expectant look. "I believe it is time for a meal."

    

Bulma was confused. Had time really moved that fast when she was laying down Trunks? "It is?" A glance at the ticking clock confirmed Vegeta's statement. "Oh, it is! Sorry." She set about making him lunch as he stared once again at her posterior, but in shock.

    

Had she just...apologized to him? "Something wrong, woman?"

    

Bulma sighed and stretched her tired neck muscles. "No, nothing's wrong. Why do you...Mmm."

    

Vegeta's hands worked at the knots in her muscles. Her soft moan had sent the blood rushing to his groin. He hoped she didn't back into him or turn around. Not that she didn't know already what she did to him. But he was hungry and if she found out that he was aroused now she'd do something to help him out. His hands stopped. "Better now, woman?"

    

Vegeta had the habit of tacking a woman on the end of all of his thoughtful questions. Perhaps it was to make them seem harsher than they really were. However, it wasn't really needed to convince her that he didn't care about her, she already knew he cared about her. "Yes, thank you." Pressing an airy kiss to his cheek, she walked past him to begin making his lunch again.

    

"Are you going to tell me what's really wrong, woman?"

    

"What do you mean? I'm fine." She flashed him her most convincing smile. "See? Fine."

    

"Bulma..." He obviously wasn't very convinced.

    

"Vegeta." There was a hint of annoyance in her tone of voice. "Can you go train or something until I finish lunch? I can't very well cook and talk with you at the same time."

    

"Hmph, whatever." Vegeta left her standing there, facing him with a finger pointing at him in reprimand. He moved fast enough that according to her eyesight he merely disappeared.

    

"Oh, Vegeta." She let out a mournful sigh.

-----

    

Vegeta awoke from his peaceful sleep with a start. Small tendrils of fear coursed over his body and he glanced over at his mate. She was absolutely still as one who was dreaming should be. There was sweat dampening her brow and tiny tears at the corners over her eyes. There was no doubt that the woman was having a nightmare. But about what?

    

His arms wrapped around her body and noticed the tenseness there. One hand reached up and began to stroke her hair; the other gently ran across her thighs. Almost immediately her body relaxed. He wiped her eyes and mopped her brow with the sheet. No more perspiration gathered there, he noted with a twinge of satisfaction. He had comforted her, as he couldn't do earlier that day. Perhaps when she roused from her sleep he would ask her what had terrified her so much that holding her was like holding stone. That frightened her so much that even in his sleep he felt her fear.

-----

    

Bulma was in a forest. She was cold. And she was afraid. It was the most fear she had ever felt in her life. She feared the one she was running from. Icy fingers grabbed at the backs of her ankles, knocking her over and leaving her prone to whatever was chasing her.

    

An energy suddenly lifted her up in the air. The energy felt like thousands of icy fingers caressing her body. Suddenly she felt the fingers at her scalp, pulling the elastic band from her hair. Her hair billowed around her as she tried to focus on the owner of the energy. "Please leave me alone." She pleaded with whoever was touching her.

    

A rough yet feminine voice broke the energy's silence. "But, Laura, why would I do something like that?" The fingers moved to stroke her lips and then to the sensitive areas of her shoulders. "Remember, you're my little pleasure toy."

    

"This is some misunderstanding. My name is-" A sharp pinch on her arm cut her off.

    

"Nonsense. You're Laura. My sister. Don't tell me you've forgotten your dear old sister." Another pinch lower on her arm brought a small gasp from Bulma. "Now, I don't like this outfit you're wearing."

    

Bulma looked down at the dress she was wearing. It resembled a nightgown but from its design it was obviously a dress. "This isn't mine."

    

Harsh laughter filled her ears. "You were always the funny one, Laura. Of course, I gave it to you. But I'm about to take it away." Little pieces of the white material flew around her as the dress was ripped off piece by piece and soon Bulma was suspended in air without a shred of clothing on her body.

    

The fingers began caressing her again. Slow and sensually. Then they began to hurt. Like thousands upon thousands of tiny needles. She could feel the pain that resulted from them. Her fear grew as her body became a mass of agonizing touches. "Stop...please..." She moaned painfully.

    

The owner of the fingers began laughing again. Without warning a bright light blinded Bulma making her squint against the intense light. "Damn you, Laura!" The voice was angry. "Damn you!"

    

"But I haven't done anything. And I'm not Laura." The energy released Bulma and she fell in a pile on the ground.

    

"Not you! Laura! Every time I find her, you have to come along!"

    

A glowing figure stepped out of the bushes, obviously the source of the bright light. "She means me, dear." The figure owned a soft voice and instantaneously Bulma felt the fear leave her body. "Leave her be, Nora. Take this up with me, not our lineage."

    

"No! They are always so weak. They never put up a fight. They are easier to break. And they look so much like you..."

    

Laura walked over to the pile of Bulma and helped her up. "This one is not weak. She won't be easy to break." Laura flashed a medallion. The energy around them weakened and took the form of a woman.

    

"Why do you torture me so?"

    

Bulma squinted in order to see the woman's, Nora's, face but found she could not.

    

The light surrounding Laura dimmed so Bulma could see her face. Bulma gasped as she stared at the mirror image of herself. "Because you are evil, Nora. And I am good." Laura's face hardened. "Be gone!"

    

Nora disappeared. "I will get you, girl. And you also, Laura." Laura turned to the naked woman next to her. Her face was sad. "Do not break like-" She looked up toward the sky, as if a voice were speaking to her. She nodded solemnly and turned her attention to Bulma. "It is time for you to leave. You must go. We will see each other again, Bulma Briefs."

-----

    

Vegeta stepped out of bed the next morning to the distinct smell of bacon frying. He sniffed the air. And pancakes. Maybe eggs, too. But it wasn't the pancakes and the eggs he looked forward to. It was the bacon. Bulma wasn't the greatest cook but the way she fried bacon was close to heavenly.

    

He followed his nose down to the kitchen to find his son in his high chair and his woman looking exhausted. "You look tired." He plopped down at the table. "And unhappy."

    

Bulma mumbled something that sounded a lot like 'Rough night.'

    

"I know. A nightmare. Right?"

    

She faced him, alarmed by the accuracy of his observation. "Yes. How'd you..."

    

"You woke me up." He shoveled food from the plate she sat in front of him to his mouth.

    

"Sorry." Mumbling was starting to become a bad habit of hers.

    

Vegeta answered her with an indifferent shrug. "Good bacon."

    

Bulma smiled secretly to herself. "Thank you."

-----

    

_I almost had this one. I was so close. Damn Laura! She's always trying to get in my way._

    

Something's different about this one. She's stronger than the others were. And Laura actually got through to my nightmare. I'm close to finding her identity. Once I find that out she can kiss sanity goodbye.

    

I almost heard her screaming this time...


End file.
